The End
by pbow
Summary: This is a very dark story of Freddie being rejected by Carly once to often. WARNING: Multiple character death. That's why it's rated M.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own the copyrights to the television show **iCarly** on Nickelodeon especially any of the characters. I use them for my own stories with no expectations of compensation.

Author's Note: This is an angst ridden two-shot AU that shows what _could_ have happen if Carly Shay rejected Fredward Benson one too many times. All of the characters are totally OOC here, but just live with it. I had to purge this from my mind to maintain my sanity. (Tho this story might prove otherwise.)

_**Warning**_**:** Multiple major character deaths occur in this two-shot. This is Black Hole dark. You've been warned.

Xxxxxx

THE END

Part 1

Xxxxxx

Freddie Benson was devastated.

It was nearing the holiday break of his sophomore year in high school and he'd just left Carly Shay's apartment for the _last_ time. They'd been studying for a few tests that'd been scheduled just before the Christmas break and he'd once again tried to tell the dark-haired web hostess how much he loved her. But like always, Freddie's confession of his undying love was once again met by two simple words that he'd heard all too often before.

"Oh Freddie."

Those two exasperating, disbelieving words and the resigned, cute but _condescending_ look accompanying them, words she would _always_ used to shoot him down in a kindly manner coming from her luscious ruby red lips, well, they simply meant 'The End'.

Freddie's life was over.

If she didn't love him by now, she never would.

After those two deadly words, Carly went on to explain that she had her eye on another cute boy in school and that Freddie should finally, _finally_ just get over his little crush on her.

The explanation was the same every time Freddie approached Carly, laying his heart out on the line. There was always another cute, dreamy guy out there that had caught her eye. Carly would date him for a week or two before she would discover that he wasn't all that dreamy or cute, or the cad would tried to move their relationship forward a bit too fast and she would break if off. Then Carly would come home crying.

And she would inevitably seek out a can of frosting and Freddie to ease the pain.

Freddie would always be there for her with a shoulder to cry on and a kind word. He would ease the pain of the breakup and she'd bounce back in a day or two. Carly would thank him profusely, give him a friendly peck on the cheek and move on to the next heartbreak... er, cute dreamy boy.

Freddie clearly saw the viscous cycle Carly was caught in but she wouldn't acknowledge it even when he took the time to explain it to her. (One time with a computer generated slide presentation complete with diagrams showing why all of her past relationships had failed.)

Well, he couldn't take it any more.

If his good friend, and that's all Carly saw herself as to him, didn't want to change then there was nothing left to do. He didn't, _couldn't_ watch her chase after another boy and break her heart again. He wanted to _be_ the boy she chased after. Carly knew Freddie would always treat her right and wouldn't try to get into her pants or take advantage of her in any way, shape or form, yet she wouldn't take the chance.

She didn't even believe in his deep love for her.

When he had approached any of the other girls in school, well, they hadn't been so kind. They would either avoid him like the plague or tell him that they'd rather date something with a little more personality, like a dead fish. Of course the really cruel ones would simply laugh in his face or state that they'd _never_ go out with a tech geek.

So yes, something _drastic_ had to be done.

Something final.

Freddie had already sent the e-mail to Carly explaining just how he felt and desperately tried, once again, to sway her way of thinking about the type of boys she dated and that he was different from all of them; That he'd treat her right. He went on to explain his reasons for leaving the iCarly show, that he couldn't bear to to see her suffer anymore heartbreak, and told her to keep his video equipment for as long as the show continued.

He wouldn't need it where he was going. They probably had better computers and video equipment in Heaven anyway.

Yes, the drastic, final measure Freddie was about to take was the taking his own life.

He'd had it with his overbearing mother treating him like a child. He'd had it with Sam's putdowns and physical abuse and he was fed up with the rejection from all of the other girls in school.

And he was finished with the constant rejection from the one and only girl he had, and always _would_, ever love, leaving him utterly devastated.

What was there left to live for? He could love no other.

Freddie's Last Will and Testament was already finished and printed out, splitting all his worldly assets between his mother and Carly, with a few provisions. The first was a request that his mother should attend therapy sessions for at least a year to get over the loss and grief of his death and to show her where her overprotective obsession partly led to his ultimate decision.

The second proviso was leaving all of the camera and tech equipment to Carly so that she could continue shooting the web show. (Hopefully with a guy who would grow to love and respect her as much as he did.) If she didn't want to continue the show then she could dispose of it however she wanted.

The third (and he had no idea why he thought it would be a good idea but, thinking about it, it was the perfect farewell gift to the blond-headed demon in his life) was that the largest ham that could be found in the city of Seattle was to be purchased, wrapped in bacon and given to Samantha Puckett as a farewell gift. (With a side order of fried chicken.)

He didn't worry about the Will being notarized or not. If his mother wanted to be petty about it and sue for everything it would just prove how screwed up she ready was. (He'd put that suggestion down in his farewell snail-mail letter to Carly that he would drop off in a mail box on the way to where he'd end it all. Freddie was sure Carly would get a kick out of that idea and use the defense if his mother challenged Carly for his worldly possessions.)

The only thing left to do was decide just how he would end his misery. Freddie was torn between poisoning himself on the tick bath soap his mother had an abundance of, jumping off his eight floor fire escape or leaping off the overpass onto Interstate 5. (The same overpass that he and Spencer had used during the competition with Sam and Carly to see which team could improve the show's ratings all those years ago.)

The idea of choking to death on that God-awful, toxic tick solution and causing his mother more anxiety over possessing the stuff in the first place nixed that idea, so it was down to leaping off the overpass or the fire escape.

Freddie knew it was idiotic, but he flipped a coin anyway.

Heads.

Overpass it was. (The irony wasn't lost on Freddie. The show gained a lot of viewers from that stunt at the overpass after they'd first started the web cast, and now taking his life there would more that likely lead to the show's demise.)

He took one last look around his bedroom. It was neat and tidy, like always. Freddie briefly debated whether he should mess up the room a bit as a last, final defiant act against his overly-tidy, overbearing mother. He discards that notion, knowing that his time was growing short. He needed to get to the overpass before rush hour traffic backed up everything and brought the fast moving cars to a slow crawl. Freddie wanted to end his life under the wheels of a fast moving vehicle that could really finish the job, not survive in the creeping traffic that could easily avoid his broken body. (He knew the fall from the overpass wouldn't kill him outright, maybe just break a few bones.)

Like everything else in his life, Freddie had really thought through his last moment on Earth.

Freddie walked out to the front room and said a quiet good-bye to the apartment he'd called home all these years. He opened the front door, locked the door knob from the inside and left his key sitting on the large medical kit stationed next to it. (All told, there were six first aid kits in the apartment, strategically placed so one would be within easy reach at all times.)

He wouldn't need the door key anymore, or the medical kits.

As Freddie shut the front door and made sure it was locked, the door opposite him in the hallway flung open and the raven-haired object of his desire swiftly dashed passed him and around the near corner.

"Freddie!" Carly hysterically yelled in near panic as she raced off down the corridor toward the front elevators at break-neck speed. Obviously she was in such a rush that she hadn't even noticed him standing there.

"She musta just got my e-mail," Freddie shrugged and headed off toward the back stairwell to avoid the brunette who had ripped his heart out and stomped on it for the last time. Just why she'd dashed off to the elevators, obviously heading for the lobby, he couldn't fathom. He hadn't told her just how he was going to take his life in the message so logically she should have tried to find him in his apartment first.

Oh well. The panicked mind does crazy things, he figured. Freddie took off in the opposite direction, to the stairwell in the rear of the building, to avoid any confrontations. (He'd thought about having a final tete-a-tete with Lewbert, finally punching the idiot's lights out, but time was growing short and he would let the next person who messed up the lobby floor by walking on it, deal with the hideous, insane doorman.)

Freddie took his time walking the streets on his way to the freeway overpass. He really enjoyed Seattle during this time of the year. There was less than a week left before the Christmas holiday and the town always decked itself out to celebrate the season.

The cool, crisp air was always clean and invigorating during the festive season. Freddie sometimes wished the city would get more snowfall during the winter months which, in turn, would make the holiday perfect in his mind. Christmas and snow just seemed to go together. Seattle only averaged six inches of snow per year, it wasn't cold enough to snow being situated on Puget Sound and so close to the Pacific Ocean, so they mostly got cold rain during their winter months.

As Freddie approached the bridge that would be his demise he saw a single, solitary person standing on the crosswalk of the overpass. The familiar brunette figure was absently leaning on the guardrail in total dismay, watching the traffic pass underneath. He walked up to the girl and leaned on the railing next to her.

"Hey Freddie," Carly Shay nonchalantly said without turning to him, just looking off at the on-coming traffic. "I don't know why, but I somehow had a feeling you would come out here."

"Hi Carly," Freddie greeted her in the same dull voice. "You aren't going to try and stop me, are you?"

"I was, but when I got here I realized that you're too level headed to take your own life; That your e-mail was just you blowing off steam."

"Have you changed your mind... are you finally going to go out with me?" Freddie dryly begged, not really hoping or expecting Carly to change her ways after all the times he'd attempted to sway her judgment in the past.

"Freddie," the brunette said as she finally turned to face the boy, "I _can't_ love you. You're my friend and friends don't date or fall in love or get married to each other. It always ends up bad for the both of them. They end up fighting about something and break up, which ultimately ends their friendship forever."

"Except in the movies and on television," Freddie derisively snorted. "There's always a happy ending in the movies and on TV, not a sad one."

"That's not the way I see it," Carly defensive stated as she turned back to watch the traffic zoom by. After a few seconds, she whispered, "I just don't want to lose your friendship if we break up after getting together."

"So that's all I am to you?" Freddie asked a little heatedly. He desperately tried to keep his anger in check but couldn't stop from letting a little bleed through in his voice. "I'm just a friend? I want more."

"I don't want to risk it so I can't give you more. I can't give you what you want."

"Flash over substance," Freddie murmured. "What you're looking for is flash over substance. You can have one or the other, but you can't have both."

"What?" Carly asked, not following the statement.

"You're looking for a piece of arm candy that'll treat you like a queen, and you'll never find it."

"Yes I will, Freddie," Carly heatedly said, turning on her friend. "I can and _will_ have both. I just know it."

"No you can't," Freddie solemnly said, shaking his head. "And you know why? Because when you find it, it'll already have been spoken for. That's what _ever_ girl wants and they'll find it before you do. They'll find it before you because they'll have recognize and grabbed it up as their own before they're out of high school. If you haven't found it at Ridgeway by now then you'll never find it because all the good guys are already spoken for. Except for me." Unfortunately, those last three words were drown out by a loud car horn from below so he wasn't sure if she heard them.

"I still have to look," Carly whispered and turned back to idly watch the traffic. She had to steer the conversation away from her love life, as pitiful as it'd been so far, so she asked, "What about you? You've dated a few girls from school."

"Do you really want to go there?" Freddie indignantly begged. "Need I remind you of Valerie who only wanted to date me so I'd abandon you and run her web show? Her dating me was just a big convoluted plot just to shut down iCarly."

"But you've dated a few other girls," Carly quickly said to prove he had other options.

"Sure, there have been one or two other girls that have gone out with me," Freddie ceded. "But they never want a second date because they were too afraid to be seen going steady with a geeky nerd. At least we're friends and you wouldn't abandon me for that reason if we hooked up."

"I would_ never_ abandon you," Carly said, briefly turning to him once again. He could see the hurt in her eyes from him even implying that she _might_ abandon him because he excelled with all things technical. Just as quickly, she turned away and said, "But I could never love you as more than a friend."

"Is that your final word?" Freddie sullenly asked as he turned to watch the cars and semi trucks pass below them. He had seen the tears welling in her eyes and couldn't look at her any more. He knew this conversation was taking its emotional toll on her, but he had to try just one last time.

"I'm... sorry," Carly sobbed, her voice hitching from all of the emotions racing through her.

"I'm sorry, too," Freddie said when he spotted the perfect opportunity coming at him. A huge semi rig towing a double trailer was going to pass in the lane directly below him in about ten or fifteen seconds.

Freddie took a deep breath and said, "I hope you'll find your guy, your flashy substance, someday. I found mine and she'll always have my heart. Good-bye my love."

At his final declaration, Carly turned and watched as Freddie Benson suddenly grabbed the rail and vaulted over, disappearing in the fast moving traffic.

Carly Shay didn't see the accident. She didn't hear the screeching tire or metal meeting metal, loudly crunching from the violent collisions when breaks were hastily slammed on, too late. She didn't see or hear anything because her mind was gibbering into total shutdown mode after watching he friend jump over the rail. All Carly managed to do was collapsed to the pavement in wracking sobs.

Carly Shay's mind reeled at what had just happened, what she couldn't comprehend.

Freddie Benson had pushed her out of the way of the taco truck and took the hit himself, saving her life.

Freddie Benson had put their fledgling love on hold, making sure her feelings were real and not foreign bacon or hero worship after the truck accident.

Freddie Benson had made her little web show a reality; One of the most popular, award winning shows on the internet.

Freddie Benson had brought her out of a depression on too many occasions after some boy broke her heart.

Freddie Benson put up with Sam's almost constant physical and verbal abuse because the blond she-demon was her friend.

Freddie Benson whole-heartedly loved and supported her in whatever she tried to do.

Freddie Benson...

Freddie Benson...

Freddie Benson...

... ...

Freddie Benson knew the _true_ meaning of love.

Freddie Benson loved her so deeply that if she couldn't return that love, he didn't want to go on living.

She, Carly Shay, _didn't _know the meaning of true love_._

Xxxxxx

You can stop reading here if you'd like. It makes a great single chapter story but I needed to have the rest of the characters deal with this tragic tale, so there's a second chapter.

I was going to have this as a very long one-shot but decided to let you breath a little before the rest of the carnage happens. The not so simple act of Freddie taking his life will cause a domino effect, toppling everyone around him. So grab a soda (or something stronger if you need it) and turn the page. The death toll is just starting.

Remember, I warned that this story is blacker than a Black Hole. And so it shall be.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Warning**_**:** Multiple major character deaths occur in this story. This isn't just angst, this is Black Hole dark. Adults **ONLY**. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own the copyrights to the television show **iCarly** on Nickelodeon or especially any of the characters. I use them for my own wickedly evil stories with no expectations of compensation.

Author's Note: This is an angst ridden two-shot AU that shows what _could've_ happen if Carly Shay rejected Fredward Benson one too many times. All of the characters are totally OOC here, but just live with it. I had to purge this from my mind to maintain my sanity. Freddie Benson has just committed suicide right in front of Carly Shay, but let's see who else I can kill off.

Xxxxxx

THE END

Part 2

Xxxxxx

A few minutes passed before the first Police Officer arrived on the overpass looking for some sign, a suicide note or whatever, explaining the reason why a person, now an unidentifiable lump of flesh on the road below, had jumped.

He didn't find a note or anything else that would immediately lead to the who, why or wherefore, but he did find a very distraught young woman curled up on the pavement crying her eyes out, almost to the point of hysteria.

The Police Officer immediately recognized the young lady. His two daughters loved the web show, iCarly, and he'd watched quite a a few episodes with his children over the years. (He enjoyed the wacky comedy himself but wouldn't admit it to anyone except his daughters and wife.)

He gently gathered up Carly and, because of her condition, took her to the hospital. In route he called police dispatch and they, in turn, called the Shay apartment.

Spencer answered the phone and, after hearing about what'd happened, immediately rushed to the hospital with Sam in tow. They'd been wondering why Carly had raced out of the apartment until they read the e-mail that she'd just received. When they realized what was going on, Sam ran upstairs to locate a few 'special items' while Spencer dashed across the hall to see if Freddie was still in his apartment. Sam was just picking the lock with the special items when Spencer got the call from the Police.

Carly was still being examined by the doctors, she hadn't said a word to anyone since being found and wouldn't stop crying, when the short blond girl and tall lanky artist arrived at the emergency room. They were immediately stopped by the Police and had to answer a few questions first.

When Spencer told the Officer about Freddie's note to Carly, they finally had a name to go along with the body, (What was left of it. The semi truck and double trailers had done a good job hindering the Police from identifying the 'jumper'.)

The Police tried to call Freddie's apartment but got no answer. Spencer told them that Mrs. Benson was probably at work right there in that very hospital. After some checking and a quick page over the intercom, Mrs. Benson arrived in the emergency room.

The Police Officer, as tactfully and as gently as he could, informed Nurse Benson of her son's actions and what they'd found at the scene. Spencer spoke up and told her, as best he could remember, about the e-mail from Freddie.

Marissa Benson stood silently for all of a minute absorbing the shocking news before she went, well, _ballistic _seemed to be the perfect word_._

The redheaded nurse started off wailing about her poor dead son and how he must have suffered for years from infectious germs (they were real in her mind, at least) that drove him to take his own life. Then she cried about how her little Fredward wouldn't be able to carry on the famous family name with his fencing. She finally turned on Sam and Spencer, saying _they_ had poisoned her little Freddie's mind and that the little tramp next door, Carly Shay, had probably played with his affections and dumped him unmercifully, driving Freddie to suicide.

A couple of very large hospital Orderlies suddenly entered the drama-filled hallway, either drawn by the disturbance or summoned by one of the onlookers. They were just preparing to pounce on the highly irate and possibly insane woman to restrain and subdue her but froze in astonishment when Sam charged Mrs. Benson, stopped short and started to verbally tear into the woman.

The dirty-blond firecracker of a girl started off by directing the blame back on Freddie's mother, saying that her constant nagging and babying of the poor boy was what drove him crazy, and that her insistence of weekly tick baths were the cause of his mental breakdown; Especially since there probably wasn't a single tick in the entire Seattle metropolitan area. Sam went on to berate Mrs. Benson with how she would always embarrass Freddie by showing up in the wrong play at the wrong time; An example being the time she'd arrived in the studio with a plastic bag of asparagus when they were live on the web, insisting Freddie finish eating his vegetables.

What was really surprising was the fact that Sam's verbal tirade was peppered with invectives that would probably make Satan blush, let alone the proverbial plumber or sailor. Sam hardly _ever_ swore. But the blue verbage spewing from her mouth was quite impressive and made Spencer wonder where she learned such language, (maybe her mother, Pamela Puckett?) and if Carly might've also been exposed to it.

The Hospital Orderlies finally gained their wits about them and acted. One grabbed Sam in a full-nelson headlock. The blond hellion continued to kick and scream at the woman while the Orderly held tight and dragged her out of the building. The other pounced on Mrs. Benson, easily threw her over one shoulder and carried her away in the opposite direction.

The scene quickly settled down and a few minutes later the doctor came out and spoke with Spencer. The Physician pulled no punches and explained to the lanky artist that his sister, although she hadn't spoken a single word during the entire examination, appeared to be suffering from a total mental collapse. He highly suggested that Carly be kept in the hospital for a few days for observation _and_ under a suicide watch. (She was so disturbed over her friend's death that he feared she might also try to take her own life.) He also told Spencer that he would be bringing in a Psychiatrist to confirm his diagnosis.

The E.R. doctor allowed Spencer to visit for only a few minutes. The lanky artist didn't get a rise out of his sister no matter what he said or did. Seeing no improvement, the doctor sent Spencer home to pass the word on to whomever would need to know about Carly's condition, like the school and their parents, and that she'd be confined to the hospital for at _least_ a few days.

Spencer realized that he needed to tell his father about Carly and Freddie so the Police Officer drove him home to make the call. After getting a copy of Freddie's e-mail that'd been sent to Carly, the Officer left.

Spencer tentatively picked up the phone, worried about what his father would say when he heard the news. Unfortunately Spencer forgot that Florence Italy was ten hours ahead of Seattle and woke his dad up at around 3:30 A.M.

Colonel Steven Shay was mad with his son at first, having been awoken out of a deep sleep. But after Spencer explained the events to him, the Colonel said Spencer was correct in calling him right away and that he'd immediately apply for an Emergency Family Leave of Absence and would be home as soon as possible.

Sam had stormed into the apartment, still highly chizzed off about Mrs. Benson just as Spencer was making the telephone call and stayed only until he hung up the receiver. Then she raced back out of the apartment without saying a word, even angrier than before.

Spencer was about to chase after the highly irate blond when Gibby arrived via the freight elevator. After passing on a brief recap of the previous events, they both left to split up and search for Sam, fearing the worst for what the highly volatile blond would do.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Samantha Puckett had run home and tore the place apart, finally locating the handgun that her mother had. (It was a gift from a gunsmith that she had once dated. He had given it to Pam for home security.) Sam concealed it in her waistband, under her shirt, before heading out to vent her anger on the one person she knew was responsible for the whole mess.

The enraged blond was able to sneak into the hospital, locate where Mrs. Benson was being held and make her way up to the room.

Unfortunately for the young blond girl on a mission, Mrs. Benson had been sedated so Sam couldn't holler at the woman. That only stoked Sam's wrath even more, so she placed the barrel against Marissa Benson's head and fired.

Her anger spent for the moment, Sam dropped the gun and swiftly left the room never to be seen or heard from again. (One rumor had her fleeing to Canada and becoming a Mountie while another swore she moved to Las Vegas and became a showgirl during the day and a high-priced hooker by night.)

Meanwhile, Gibby was frantically searching for his blond friend. Unfortunately, he didn't watch where he was going when he was only a block away from Bushwell Plaza and stepped out into the crosswalk. He was promptly struck down and killed by, you guessed it, a taco truck.

Ironically, it was the same street corner where Freddie had pushed Carly out of the way and was injured a few years prior.

Spencer had decided to check the hospital, thinking Sam would want to see how her friend was doing. When he arrived, he discovered that Sam _had_ been there and had somehow gotten away leaving the deceased Mrs. Marissa Benson being carted off to the morgue.

Spencer didn't know what to do. His father wouldn't be home until late tomorrow morning at the earliest, Carly was practically comatose, Sam was missing and wanted for murder, and both Freddie and Mrs. Benson were dead.

Having nothing better to do and knowing he probably wouldn't be able to sleep, Spencer went home and started working on a sculpture. He was so deeply wrapped up in thought on his way back that he didn't notice the traffic accident only a block away from the apartment building that took the life of another of the kids he thought of as family. Spencer worked well into the wee hours of the morning when he finally collapsed on the living room couch in total exhaustion.

Spencer never woke up when the smoke detector went off after the sculpture caught on fire, like always, from his faulty wiring job.

The Seattle Fire Department found Spencer on the couch when they arrived, dead from smoke inhalation.

Xxxxxx

Colonel Shay arrived at Bushwell Plaza around noon the next day. He was exhausted from the twelve hour flight but was anxious to see Spencer and visit his daughter.

He was stopped in the hallway by a Police Officer and told he couldn't enter the apartment since it was now a crime scene.

After the Colonel identified himself as the owner of the apartment, he received the bad new.

All of it.

He already knew about Freddie and his daughter's condition but was shocked when told about Spencer's death and Mrs. Benson's murder by Sam. (The Police had identified Mrs. Benson's murderer by the fingerprints left at the scene (matched to the blond's juvenile records) and those on the gun, not to mention the hospital surveillance video showing the blond girl entering the room just before the shooting occurred.)

Since there was nothing he could do at the apartment, Colonel Shay told the Officer to lock up when they were done with the investigation and went to the hospital. There he met with the Psychiatrist who had just finished his exam and was informed of Carly's condition. The Doctor confirmed his colleague's diagnosis, that Carly was suffering from a total mental collapse more than likely brought on by her friend's suicide, and that there wasn't much they could do to bring her out of it.

Only time would eventually bring here out of her catatonic state and then she would require months, if not years, of psychiatric therapy before she would be anywhere close to being fully functional again.

It was finally decided that Carly would accompany her father back to Italy where she would be watched over and treated at the airbase hospital where Colonel Shay was stationed.

The Colonel immediately went to work emptying the apartment and terminating the lease. It took him four day to sell the unneeded furniture and other items and to pack up the rest, the first two of those days he'd had to deal with the media since his daughter and Sam were celebrities on the internet. The news media was in a frenzy over the entire iCarly crew's sufferings: one suicide, one murder, one fatal traffic accident and one mental breakdown. They finally left the Colonel alone when they realized he wasn't going to talk about the incidents, and a few burly Air Force personnel had arrived from the local base to retain order, and made it quite clear that _nothing_ would be gained by staying. (And that a few news vans just _might_ get damaged or maybe even some bones would be broken if they _didn't_ leave. Air Force personnel look out for their own, don't you know.)

Xxxxxx

_"In five, four, three, two..." Freddie Benson counted down, then pointed at the two exuberant girls who were happily bouncing about in the large room colorfully decorated in a mismatched, hodge-podge style. The blond and brunette teens jovially introduced themselves. _

Carly Shay finally smiled for the first time in weeks as the scene played out in her mind, remembering one of the web shows she, Sam and Freddie had done a few months earlier. She was sitting in a lounge chair, dressed in her pajamas, robe and slippers, on the hospital patio that overlooked the Italian countryside and hadn't said a single solitary word since talking to her tech producer on the overpass a few weeks ago. The doctors were deeply concerned by her silent suffering.

But Carly wasn't concerned.

Carly knew Freddie would casually ask her out on a date after the show playing out in her head was over, and this time she didn't mind him doing so.

This time, Carly Shay would say _yes._

They would date for a few years while going to college together and eventually get married and have two children; Samantha and Fredward Jr.

At least in her mind.

Carly Shay was happy once more and didn't mind that the fantasy wasn't real. She could retreat into her memories and live there for the rest of her life, safe and secure in Freddie's loving arms.

She was with Freddie and she was happy and that was all that mattered now.

Xxxxxx

Lambaste me if you want, I told you at the beginning that this would be as dark as a Black Hole. I needed to write this to get it off my mind and save my sanity. (What little I still have left.)

But fear not. I have another story in the works. It's an iCarly/Victorious crossover with a wry little twist stemming from the game of Boomba. I have 14 chapters written so far and don't know where to end it, but I think it's good and worth the wait.

-30-


End file.
